Shloka 21
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
तेज, क्रोध, नेत्र, ऊष्मा और जठरानल--ये पाँच वस्तुएँ देहधारियोंके शरीरमें अग्निमय हैं
tejaḥ krodho netre ūṣmā ca jaṭharānalaḥ—etāni pañca vastūni dehadhāriṇāṃ śarīre agnimayāni
Bharadvāja said: “Splendour (the inner fire), anger, the eyes, bodily heat, and the digestive fire—these five are fiery in nature within the bodies of embodied beings.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that key human functions and impulses—vital radiance, anger, vision, bodily warmth, and digestion—are ‘fiery’ in essence. Ethically, it implies that a person must understand and regulate these inner fires through discipline, moderation, and restraint, so that energy becomes constructive (tejas) rather than destructive (krodha).
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Bharadvāja is explaining a doctrinal point about the constitution of embodied beings. He enumerates five fire-like factors within the body, linking moral and mental life (especially anger and vigor) with physiological ‘agni’ principles.